United States v. Soto-Peguero

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts

May 9, 2017

UNITED STATES OF AMERICAv.ORISTEL SOTO-PEGUERO and LUIS F. GUZMAN-ORTIZ

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

RYA W.
ZOBEL SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Defendant
Oristel Soto-Peguero stands accused of two counts of
possession of heroin with intent to distribute, see
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), two counts of conspiracy to
distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin,
see 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1), and
one count of use of a firearm during and in relation to a
drug offense, see 18 U.S.C. §
924(c).[1] Defendant Luis F. Guzman-Ortiz is charged
with two counts: possession of heroin with intent to
distribute, see 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and with
conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to
distribute heroin, see 21 U.S.C. §§ 846
and 841(a)(1). Soto-Peguero has moved to suppress evidence
obtained and resulting from wiretaps of two telephones, a car
stop, and a sweep of his apartment. See Docket #
118. Guzman-Ortiz joins the motion to the extent it seeks
suppression of evidence from the car stop and from the
apartment. See Docket # 122.[2] The court held an
evidentiary hearing on January 19 and 20, 2017, and heard the
parties' arguments on April 19, 2017.

I.
Facts

Based
on the credible testimony and consideration of the
parties' submissions, I find the following facts:

A.
Wiretaps

In late
summer 2014, the Drug Enforcement Administration
(“DEA”) began investigating a heroin trafficking
organization centered in Taunton, Massachusetts, and operated
by Eddyberto Mejia-Ramos. Starting in mid-January 2015, DEA
agents conducted wiretaps of phones used by Mejia-Ramos. They
began first by intercepting Target Telephone
(“TT”) # 1. The intercepted communications showed
that Mejia-Ramos stopped using TT # 1 around February 4,
2015, and began using TT # 2. Agents received authorization
to intercept TT # 2 on February 24, 2015, and through
intercepted communications, learned that an unknown male,
later identified as Jorge Montalvo, used TT # 3 to supply
drugs to Mejia-Ramos. Mejia-Ramos stopped using TT # 2 around
March 26, 2015, and on April 13, 2015, the court authorized
the interception of TT # 3 and TT # 4, the latter of which
Mejia-Ramos was then using. These interceptions revealed,
inter alia, that Soto-Peguero supplied heroin to Mejia-Ramos
and that Mercedes Cabral, on behalf of Soto-Peguero,
transported heroin to and proceeds from Mejia-Ramos.

B.
Vehicle Stop

Insofar
as relevant to the instant motion, intercepted communications
on July 6, 2015, revealed that Soto-Peguero had planned to
transport drugs to Mejia-Ramos that day. Soto-Peguero called
Mejia-Ramos at 1:43 pm, and Mejia-Ramos said, “when I
get down there I'm gonna give [you a] call . . . so you
can bring that up, because most likely I'll be ready for
today.” Suppression Hearing Exhibit 2, at 1. During
that conversation, Soto-Peguero said, “I have a lot of
food, try to resolve that, that I have a lot of food around
there, I got ready for you.” Id.

Beginning
at 6 pm on that day, Special Agent (“SA”) Carl
Rideout of the DEA and Task Force Officer (“TFO”)
Christian Theodore[3] conducted surveillance at 632 Norwest Lane
in Norwood, Massachusetts. They observed Cabral leaving the
apartment complex in a Hyundai Sonata. She drove to a grocery
store in Boston and returned to the apartment around 8 pm, at
which point, she and Soto-Peguero carried groceries into the
apartment. At 8:57 pm, Mejia-Ramos called Soto-Peguero and
told him to come by at 10:00 pm and “bring something
heavy.” Id. at 2. Soto-Peguero replied,
“I'm going to send the wife/woman.”
Id. Soto-Peguero asked, “are you going to
clean everything? So I can send you at least 400?”
Id. Mejia-Ramos responded, “Not 10. Yeah, is
to clean everything.” Id.

At
approximately 9:34 pm, Cabral left the apartment again.
Soto-Peguero called Mejia-Ramos at 9:38 pm and said,
“[t]he woman is on her way. She should be there in 20
minutes, half an hour.” Id. at 3. Rideout,
Theodore, and two other officers followed Cabral as she drove
onto Route 24 South and then onto Route 44 West toward
Taunton. TFO Theodore contacted Massachusetts State Police
(“MSP”) Troopers Ryan Walczak and Jason Vital and
requested that they conduct a traffic stop.

At
approximately 10:10 pm, Trooper Vital stopped Cabral for a
marked-lane violation. Trooper Walczak and Trooper Andy Mason
joined Vital shortly after the stop. TFO Theodore, SA
Rideout, and Bristol County Sheriff's Office Major Nelson
Degouveia observed the stop from a nearby gas station. The
three MSP troopers approached the car and asked Cabral to
produce her license and registration. Cabral said that she
could not locate her license and gave Trooper Vital the
rental agreement, on which she was not listed as a driver. At
the time, Cabral's license was suspended, which Theodore
had learned prior to the stop and had communicated to the
troopers. Trooper Walczak asked Cabral to exit the vehicle.
Cabral attempted to take her purse and phone with her, but
Vital told her to leave them in the car. At that point,
Cabral handed the purse to Vital, and Walczak placed her
under arrest.[4] A vehicle inventory revealed that her
pocketbook contained a large object wrapped in green plastic.
Inside the plastic wrapping were several brick like
substances, each about the size of a bar of soap, which
according to Walczak, was consistent with how heroin was
packaged and stored. The pocketbook also contained $501.00 in
cash.

C.
Evidence from 632 Norwest Lane

Soon
after the seizure from the vehicle, at approximately 10:13
pm, about eleven officers surrounded Soto-Peguero's home
at 632 Norwest Lane in Norwood, a two-bedroom, two-story,
attached condominium. There was a light on downstairs. One
officer knocked several times on the front door, yelling
“police, ” After no one answered, Detective Kevin
Mahoney of the Dedham Police Department[5] tried to breach
the door using a ram. He unsuccessfully rammed the door four
or five times, after which, he heard a gun shot and saw a
hole in the door. His final attempt to open the door failed.
At about this time, he noticed two people looking out from
the top-floor window.

When
the front door proved to be invincible, officers in the back
of the unit made a forced entry through the rear door and
opened the front door for the officers in that location.
After their entry, the officers conducted a protective
“sweep” of the residence. See, e.g.,
Jan. 19, 2017 Tr. at 94:15-16; Jan. 20, 2017 Tr. at
29:24-30:1. Two men who were upstairs came down. As the first
individual, Soto-Peguero, came down the stairs on his stomach
as directed, a package containing three bags of a tan brown
substance fell from his pants. The second individual,
Guzman-Ortiz, then descended in like fashion, and the
officers arrested both. During the “sweep” of the
apartment, the officers uncovered a block of heroin and a
firearm in the front bedroom and a block of heroin in the
back bedroom.

The
next day, on July 7, 2015, SA Rideout obtained a search
warrant to search the premises, which was executed that same
day. During that search, officers found additional items
including bags of heroin and ammunition.

II.
Analysis

Soto-Peguero
moves to suppress all wiretap communications intercepted on
TT ## 2 and 4, all evidence seized during the vehicle stop,
all evidence seized from 632 Norwest Lane, and any evidence
derived either directly or indirectly from this evidence.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A.
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